Echiums

Thats amazing that they self seed - Pete. Though I have heard that in hotter climater they can be quite invasive and act like weeds - but I don't think they will be doing that in Yorkshire.

JWK - they are very easy from seed. And as Pete says once you have got them to flower you can collect enough seed for a lifetime.

Here are a few sources of seed - you wil find more if you Google. I just sow them at the normal time in spring. As they won't flower in the first year - you don't have to sow them early.

All Seeds - Chiltern Seeds secure online shop

Echium (Canary Islands' Giant Burgloss) --- www.rareplants.de

Buy Flower Seeds,Vegetable Seeds,Garden Seeds - Secure Online Seed Store - Plant World Seeds

Semi-Hardy Exotic Seeds from JungleSeeds

This secret seeds site gives some info Echiums and you can buy some of those from them here Secret Seeds

 

I don't know why but I have 'always' got fantastic germination with E.pininana and E. 'Snow Tower' but have for some reason failed to germinate several other varieties (boissieri, candicans & wildpretii) is there any difference in germination techniques for the others or have I just been unlucky? :D

 

Has anyone any experience of Echium fastuosum; descibed as a shrubby/perennial Echium, I saw a multi-stemmed one at a local florists last year for £30 (well I think it was fastuosum :D, it was being sold as a 'shrub' Echium anyways?)..

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Bilbo - I have found them all pretty easy to germinate.

E. fastuosum is just another name for candicans. £30 is a lot of money as they grow pretty fast - I have thrown at least half a dozen away this year as I had too many - perhaps I could have been a rich man. :D

 

Must admit I struggled getting boissieri to germinate , they took ages.
I'm thinking with most heat is probably not the answer, more likely a steady warm temperature.

I never got russicum to germinate, sadly the young plants you sent me last year didn't make it Peter.

I'd be surprised if they dont self seed in Yorkshire Peter, just lay a dead flower stem on the ground overwinter.
It will sow enough seeds for the next 10 yrs

 

Armandii - have only just looked at his thread again - being away at the moment.

My own take on this is that :-

1) There are very few named cultivars - most seem to be species, which will come true from seed.

2) I am not aware that you can take cuttings of Echiums. So I asume that all Echiums are grown from seed. As they continue to sell seed of 'Pink Fountain' and others, I assume they must come reasonably true from seed.

 

I'm thinking hybrids are likely, "pink fountain" being one.
But as Peter says, we mostly grow species, so unless us gardeners start flowering differing species side by side I think most will stay true.

If anyone wants a good hardy one, look no further than Echium vulgare, it looks quite weedy on some pics on the net, but if you grow it well it can get quite impressive, 4ft even.

OK so its small, but a good blue.

 

I am growing E.piniana and E.candicans (thanks @longk) this year. So, far have noticed that the seedlings like to have light and warmth for germination. I read somewhere that Echium has tap roots so it doesnt like to be moved around. Can someone please suggest when should I prick the seedlings? And should I put them in bigger pots after pricking or individual 5cm pots? Right now there are 7 of them growing in a 3inch pot in which they have germinated. I think the flower pods had more than one seed in them as 2 of them are in clumps of 3. I am keeping them warm inside the house under grow lights and right now 3-4 cm in height. No true leaves yet.

 

I'd pot them singly now into 3 or 4 in pots.
You will need to pot on regularly once they fill the pots with roots, otherwise they tend to stop growing.

 

I am so glad this thread has been revived. I am still growing them, but they have had to live outside over the summer and they don't do much in a cold year. The measure of this is, as I understand it, that E. pininana is truly biennial in the Canary Islands - ie flowering in its second year, but can easily take 4 years to flower in the UK.

They don't like the damp in winter in a cold greenhouse - it can rot the growing point and most only have one growing point. So I have been overwintering them on a windowsill in the house. Usually you don't water tender plants much over the winter - I don't keep my house very hot, but I have noticed that they do like a lot more water that I would have expected.

I now have a garden room, that could give them a bit of extra heat in the summer, so Minki and Pete you have encouraged me to grow a few more from seed this year. I have never tried vulgare.

 

In this case will it be better to keep them in pot, leave them out in summer and bring them in when the really bad weather and frosts start and then put them out in summer again, may be put in ground next summer to get the plant going for that brilliant long flower shoot (hope's eternal)... I have a few seedlings so may be i can have a project of my own... i think i should do some research on high and low temp, rainfall in canary islands.. May be a field study will be helpful too..:D


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Yes, I think that is the right way. I reckon when you plant them out (whether start of year 2, or start of year 3) will depend on whether you think they are big enough to flower following year.

They grow like weeds on Guernsey, so if you find their weather is more like ours, than Canary Islands, then run with that instead?

 

I found caterpillars munching the E.candicans that is planted out this morning! That's far too early isn't it?